The Tamms C-Max (Control-Maximum Security) in Illinois is 
censoring the newspaper MIM Notes, books sent in as part of 
MIM's Free Books for Prisoners program, and correspondence 
from individual prisoners. The prison has generally not 
disclosed why it stopped certain materials. 

We fear that the mailroom staff is capriciously discarding 
mail, especially mail to and from MIM and Men Against 
Control Segregation (MACS). MACS organizes against the 
abuses of control-unit facilities. 

Control units like Tamms are prisons under permanent lock 
down. Prisoners typically spend 23 hours of every day alone 
in a 6' by 8' cell. Beatings by guards are common. Control 
units are designed to isolate prisoners -- stopping contact 
with the outside in one way this happens.

Illinois prisons have a history of censorship. Tamms, for 
example, banned the receipt of reading material from 
friends and family members. Prisoners in Illinois are 
waging a class action lawsuit against this kind of 
censorship.

MIM is calling on all readers to protest the censorship by 
Tamms officials and throughout the IDOC. You can address 
complaints to:

*Warden George C. Welborn 200 East Supermax Road P.O. Box 
400 Tamms, IL 62988

*Director Donald Snyder, Jr. Illinois Department of 
Corrections 1301 Concordia Court Springfield, IL 62794

*Governor George Ryan Office of the Governor 207 Statehouse 
Springfield, IL 62706

Please send MIM a copy of all protest letters you send.

Maoist Internationalist Movement
PO Box 29670
Los Angeles CA 90029-0670

mim@mim.org
www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext